The United States Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25th to September 17th, 1787. Delegates from each state—except Rhode Island—gathered in the Pennsylvania State House. The purpose of the Convention was to originally revise the Articles of Confederation. The Articles had been in act for ten years, but did not support a strong national government. What finally made the delegates realize they needed to meet was Shay’s Rebellion, and the overall government organization. Shay’s Rebellion was a series of protest in 1786 and 1787 by farmers for tax collections and discernment of debt. After the rebellion, people started to question the power of the national government; they realized they needed a stronger national government …show more content…
It is originally made up of two plans that large and small states argued upon. The New Jersey Plan was written by William Paterson. The structure of government included each state getting the same amount of representatives. Small states favored this plan because larger states would over power and get more seats in the house. Contradicting the small states, The Virginia Plan was written by James Madison, and included three branches of government. It included the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Branches. Most delegates favored this plan because their state would get more seats in the house, having more of a say. Resolving the argument, Roger Sherman came up with The Great Compromise also known as The Connecticut Plan. The government incorporated, two house legislature, containing a Senate and a House of Representatives. The senate would have an equal number of representatives from each state, which fulfilled the New Jersey Plan. To fulfill the Virginia Plan, the House of Representatives would have one representative for every thirty-thousand people in a …show more content…
The Government included of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branches. The purpose of having these branches it so they could each check and balance each other. Also, to split powers evenly, we need three branches. Each branch is unique and helps the nation have a stable and firm Government system. The Executive branch is going to be made up of a President, Cabinet, and Vice president. The powers this branch has includes, but are not limited to, vetoing laws, proposing laws, and negotiating foreign treaties. The Legislative Branch creates bills and laws. It is made up of The Congress, House of Representatives, and The Senate. This branch can override the President’s veto, approve treaties, and declare war. The Judicial Branch interprets laws, and is made up of the Supreme Court and other Federal Courts. They have the ability to interpret laws unconstitutional and can declare executive actions unconstitutional. Having three branches of government will give the United States a powerful national government with split equality in terms of
These three branches are all equal and they have checks and balances to manage the other branches to restrict their power. This type of government strengthens the constitution because this way one branch doesn’t have to ability to abuse their power. John Adams once said, “It is by balancing each of these powers against the other two, that the efforts in human nature toward tyranny can alone be checked and restrained, and any degree of freedom preserved in the constitution” (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). The United States still fears tyranny because of Britain abusing their power on the colonies. The United States wants a strong government that can enforce laws without being too powerful.
The Virginia plan presented in 1787 by Edmund Randolph was one option on how the United States should be governed. Their key points were for Congress to have 2 houses and for representation to be based on population. Another option was the New Jersey plan which was presented by William Paterson in the same year. This was to oppose the Virginia plan because not everyone agreed with what was written.
This is shown in the House of Representatives,
In May 25, 1787, a convention was called in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to express the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. However, the intention from many delegates was to draft a new constitution; create a new government rather than fix the existing one. Rhode Island was the only one of the 13 original states to refuse to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention. At the Convention, the first issues they had to address was the representation in Congress.
This plan also called for two legislative houses, one chosen by the people and the other chosen by the other house. It would enable Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to form a majority in the national legislation, and smaller states soon realized that they would not have much say with this plan. The elected National Executive would then have the authority to execute national laws and taxes. A Council of Revision will be formed by the Executive and members of the judiciary with the authority to examine, and reject,
The three branches that the constitution have made include the legislative, the executive and the judicial branch. The Legislative branch, also known as the House of Representatives, has certain powers over the other branches, the Executive is known as the President will also have powers over the other branches, and the same goes for the judiciary which is known as the Supreme Court. By creating these three branches of government, the representatives will also build a check and balance system which is included in the
The Virginia Plan, proposed by James Madison favored the larger states for a two-house Congress to be based on each state’s population. This, of course, was argued about because small states felt as if they would not have enough voice. In disapproval to the Virginia Plan came the New Jersey Plan. This plan argued for a one house Congress, with equal representation. This meant that each state would have the same number of members.
A constitutional convention was held in May of 1787, when 55 delegates from 12 out of the 13 states met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In James Madison’s words, a tyrant is “a government with an absolute ruler like a king, or a dictator.” King George III was known as a tyrant. King George III was an unfit ruler who led the colonists to break away from Great Britain because of reasons including (but are not limited to) unruly taxes, lowering prices for Britain’s tea only, and putting soldiers at the Appalachian Mountains unnecessarily. After a failed attempt at government, a constitution needed to be created.
The first is the Executive; this includes the president and vice president with powers to veto the Senate of establishing laws, appoints judges and other officials, and ensures all laws are carried out. The second is the Legislative branch; this includes the House and Senate with powers to pass all laws, establish lower federal courts, and can impeach the President. Lastly, there is the Judicial branch; this includes the federal courts and Supreme Court with powers to interpret laws of the nation and declare any law or executive act unconstitutional. It was created this way to prevent anyone branch from becoming too powerful and dominate the government (U.S. Constitution,
He rallied his supporters and made many attempts at getting George Washington to the meeting, after being told by George Mason that his plan was only to succeed with Washington’s help. The constitutional convention was held in the summer of 1787. It lasted 4 months from May 25th to September 17th. George Washington was persuaded
In the summer of 1787, a Constitutional Convention was called to revise the Articles of Confederation. Many of the delegates intended to use this convention as a way of drafting a new constitution. The main issue discussed in the convention was representation of the states. The Articles stated that each state had a single vote in Congress, but the bigger states wanted representation based on population. James Madison then proposed the Virginia Plan, and the larger states supported his idea.
There were two short-term events that precipitated the Constitutional Convention. The text, Experience History, by Davidson, DeLay, Heyrman, Lytle, & Stoff (2013), states that the first crisis, which was international, happened in 1785 because southwesterners were having difficulty navigating the Mississippi River. They were also still threatening to withdraw from the union and add their territory to the Spanish American empire (Davidson, DeLay, Heyrman, Lytle, Stoff, 2013, p. 195). In the text it mentions that in order to prevent the southwesterners from breaking ties with the union, Congress sent John Jay, the secretary of foreign affairs, to negotiate an agreement with Spain. This agreement was to give Americans the right to navigate the
After no progress of which plan to go through with, Roger Sherman came up with the Great Compromise. The compromise called for two house legislator. Members of the house of representatives or the lower house would be elected by popular vote. Members of the Senate or the upper house would be chosen by the state legislators. Each state would only have two senators no matter the size, or population of the state.
The upper house would be elected by the lower house, thus ensuring that there is always at least one representative in the upper house. The New Jersey Plan preserved an existing unicameral legislature, in which each state would have equal representation. The compromise that was made called for a bicameral legislature, like the 1 Virginia Plan. However, the lower house number of representatives was determined by the size of the state, and the upper house each state had equal representation. This was just part of the Great Compromise, the subject of slavery had divided the Northern and the Southern states.
The Judicial branch composes of the court judges whether actions violate laws and where laws violate constitution" This shows that the separation of powers allows for the branches to constantly check each other and to ensure a fair and equal government. In conclusion, the separation of powers helps control the government and prevent them from breaking the rules of the constitution and how they should govern. The Separation of powers allows for each of the branches of the government to check each other and ensure they all follow the rules and laws set by the constitution. Separation of powers is a key factor in our government